Moment
by mizuiro eyes
Summary: With the final battle looming, the two members of Team Seven share a moment.


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Maps and papers lay upon a small wooden table, haphazardly pushed and brushed aside, bent, rolled-up and piled showing snippets of hand-drawn diagrams and illegible notes. A bed stands a few feet from the table, the only two pieces of furniture in a small, nondescript white tent.

Naruto sits on the side of the bed, his feet propped up on the bed frame and his elbows resting upon his knees. His hands are grasped together as he leans forward, staring at the spot where the tent wall meets the ground. His shinobi uniform is tattered and torn, and his blond hair appears slightly dirty and mussed.

Naruto sighs as he continues to zone out. His meeting with Tsunade, Shikamaru and Kakashi concluded twenty minutes ago. After his near-fight with the Raikage, Naruto joined the Allied forces in combat. However, it seemed that Madara was waiting for the arrival of the two tailed-beast hosts and suspiciously withdrew his forces. The shinobi army used this sudden temporary respite to heal and prepare for whatever was coming next.

Naruto had an idea of what Madara was planning: consecutive multiple, large-scale attacks in one final showdown. Shikamaru warned of the threat of total chaos and confusion. Along with his father, he was currently devising many contingency plans. However, that only meant one thing for Naruto. Sasuke. Now was the time for their battle. During the recently adjourned meeting, no one fought with Naruto, or yelled, telling him how pointless his idea was, how he needed to think of something else, or how ridiculous it was for him to plan on _dying_. Tsunade looked at him with detached sadness, thankful that at least she was able to prepare for a loss, but broken just the same. Shikamaru shook his head but in the end clapped Naruto on the shoulder on his way out. Kakashi had no words to say. He would follow Naruto to the battleground as backup in case Madara decided to show and save his last Uchiha.

Again, Naruto sighs. There are no words that come to him, no enthusiastic phrases, no boundless energy or positive outlook. He has said all he needed or wanted to say about Sasuke. He is saving his friend. He is saving the person who accepted him first. He is prepared to die with Sasuke, to shoulder his anger and hatred in order to save Konoha.

Naruto lets his mind wander as he waits for Kakashi to come to the tent and tell him it's time to go. He releases his hands, flexing his fingers. There's no need to think of strategy or battle tactics. He knows subconsciously that he has learned all he needs to fight with Sasuke. This is it.

The tent flap opens abruptly, and Naruto turns his head quickly to the left to see who entered. Pink hair tied back in a bun and green eyes are all Naruto sees as Sakura takes three steps into the tent, instantly spotting Naruto and stops. She looks at him with wide eyes, shocked at his pensive expression. They continue to stare at each other, until Naruto glances down at the small canvas bag clenched in her right hand.

She looks down quickly, following his line of sight to see the bag in her hand and suddenly remembers why she barged into Naruto's tent in the first place. She takes a few quick steps towards Naruto, and stands at the foot of his bed.

She nervously glances at Naruto as she lifts up her right hand. "I brought some soldier pills for you, Naruto. I figured you would need them soon." She lightly laughs as if trying to let out some of the anxious energy. Naruto continues to look at her.

"Umm, there are also some small red pills in the bag as well. They are blood pills to help with rapid blood loss… we both know how you'll need them." She glances down at her feet, uncomfortable and unhappy that she can't talk to Naruto how she wants to, how she needs to. She's not an idiot; she knows that he is about to do. Tsunade had just told her outside of the makeshift hospital tents to go see Naruto with a knowing, sad glance and a quick shove. This moment is her last chance to speak with him, and dammit she's stuttering on what? Pills?

She tosses the bag onto the bed beside Naruto, who still hasn't said a word, who hasn't looked away from her face. Sakura's talking about his propensity for injury now, his recklessness; she can't seem to stop talking.

"… and make sure to pay attention to your surroundings, oh do you need more kunai? Here have mine. Are you sure you are healed from before? I should probably double check to make sure you are ok…"

Naruto stands up quickly, his sudden movement silencing Sakura from her incessant chattering. He reaches out and takes hold of the wrist that held the bag of soldier pills and steps closer. He looks down at her face, seeing the conflict clear as day in her expression.

"Sakura-chan."

She launches herself forward, grabbing Naruto tightly around his waist and holds on. Her face pushes against his chest as she closes her eyes tightly. She wants to hold him, feel his chest rise with each breath, and hear his heartbeat. She wants to remember him as he is now. Warm, alive, _holding her_.

Naruto's arms are slow to rest on her back. He smiles slightly as he feels her embrace tighten. He understands her emotional outburst. He needs to hold her too, his most precious person. His one hand rubs small circles on her back as she takes deep inhales to calm herself. She refuses to cry, although she is petrified of the idea of losing her teammate. She accepts the fact that she lost Sasuke a long time ago. And Naruto wouldn't be her Naruto if he didn't want to do everything in his power to save Sasuke. That's why she doesn't say anything, doesn't attempt to dissuade Naruto from his intentions, doesn't beg or cry.

She lifts her head up to look at Naruto, to see his slight smile still on his face as he stares down at her. He starts to loosen his arms when he feels Sakura begin to release him, but she merely moves her hands to grasp the front of his vest as she tugs down on the uniform to kiss him.

The kiss is soft, chaste, and warm. Sakura moves her lips once, twice before she leans back to see Naruto's eyes wide and shocked. He looks at her to see a small smile on her face, but before she can open her mouth to explain why she kissed him, he dives back in. His hands, having drifted down to his sides, drive swiftly into her hair, pulling her face, mouth closer to his as he slants down across her lips, desperately moving his lips against hers. Her hands let go of his vest hastily to reach her arms around his neck as she opens her lips to allow him access.

His left hand moves down to tightly wind around her waist, pulling her closer as he keeps his other hand buried in her pink strands. Her hands start to grip the back of his vest and tug at the golden hair above the collar. She's kissing him back with equal fervor as they both hold each other, swaying slightly. His tongue moves swiftly in tandem with hers. Sakura moans into Naruto's mouth and the sound and vibration bring Naruto to his senses. Time has not stopped and his awareness of the situation returns.

Not wanting to end, but needing to slow down, Naruto nips lightly on her bottom lip. Sakura tilts her head to the other side and Naruto kisses her slowly, less frantic and furious as 10 seconds ago. Her hands are now completely in his hair, holding him to her. Naruto's other hand is now on the back of her neck as he continues to leisurely kiss her.

Eventually, their lips part. Sakura stares up at Naruto, smiling with her arms around his neck. She is grateful for the chance to finally express her feelings towards him. It just figured that it was physical instead of verbal. Naruto meets her gaze with a similar small smile. He pulls her in for a warm embrace, with her ear against his chest and her head tucked under his chin. He wraps his arms around her back, and breathes in. He kissed her. He kissed Sakura, and she kissed him back. He lets his inner 13-year-old shine through and grins like an idiot for a few seconds before closing his eyes as he continues to breathe in her scent. He can't tell her how much she means to him or how precious she is to him, but it doesn't matter because his words would be unnecessary. She knows what he's feeling.

Kakashi ducks his head inside the tent and find his two students still embracing by the small bed. Naruto opens his eyes and glances over at him to see Kakashi give a small smile and signal 'five minutes,' before ducking back out of the tent.

Sakura's eyes are closed as she listens to Naruto's steady heartbeat. She can't stop herself from smiling. She kissed Naruto! Naruto rubs his hand up and down her back, and she moves to look at him when she feels him lightly kiss her forehead. Her eyes close again in gratitude and she doesn't open them until she feels Naruto kiss her lips lightly once more. She moves her hands to his face as she looks into his blue eyes. She doesn't say anything and neither does Naruto.

The two teammates share one final glance before Naruto reaches up and takes her hands in his. He squeezes them gently as he steps back from her. He finally looks away to pick up the soldier pill bag from its forgotten spot on the bed. As he places it in the pouch attached to his leg, he shares one final smile with his teammate. He walks past her and exits the tent. He doesn't look back and neither does she.

So this is my first attempt at a NaruSaku fanfiction. Having read many NS stories for a while now, I have to give a well-deserved nod to all the writers out there. This writing gig is much harder than I anticipated and you all are even more impressive for your skills. I tip my hat to each and every one of you. I was urged to write this story after all the recent manga events. I think this is a reasonable situation that could happen. If you aren't up to date, stop reading my AN! First of all, Kishimoto is a smart man. He knows that there is a huge division between Naruto fans: NaruSaku and NaruHina. Therefore, he's going to alternatively mess with each group in order to keep us all reading. Example: Hinata tells Naruto she loves him, Sakura then hugs him. Naruto's mom tells him to find a girl like her, Sakura thinks of Sasuke when prompted from the awkwardly infatuated shinobi, Hinata resolves to protect Naruto at all costs. This man is a genius. He's going to torture us with small interactions and conversations that we all obsess with. Ha we need lives! Me personally? I want to shake Sakura to get her to wake the heck up. Geez. If I had a guy that cared for me as much as Naruto does for her, I wouldn't be thinking about another guy that's tried to kill me. But then again, in the most recent shippuden episode, she thinks about how Sasuke has irrevocably changed, so... who knows really. Do I hope that Naruto survives? Of course. I think Madara's going to save Sasuke for some crazy plot twist and Sakura will have some epiphany about the loveable baka. But then again, Kishimoto keeps throwing curve balls at us. As long as Killer Bee keeps rapping ("Jigga-jack"? seriously?), I'm hooked.


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